Generally, a thermophotovoltaic device is a kind of device that can transform radiation generated by a high-temperature heat source into electricity. Generally, the thermophotovoltaic device is operated by burning a fuel to heat an emitter to make the emitter generate light and using a solar cell to receive the light energy and to transform the received light energy into electricity.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional thermophotovoltaic device. A thermophotovoltaic device 100 mainly includes an emitter 102 and several solar cells 104. The emitter 102 may be a high temperature resistance cylinder. An interior of the emitter 102 often has a combustion chamber 108. A fuel can be put into the combustion chamber 108 in the interior of the emitter 102, and is burned in the combustion chamber 108 to heat the emitter 102. The solar cells 104 are disposed outside and surrounding the emitter 102.
After the fuel is burned in the combustion chamber 108, the emitter 102 is heated. The emitter 102 is generally heated to a temperature exceeding 1000° C. After being heated, the emitter 102 generates radiation 106. Then, the radiation 106 is emitted toward the solar cells 104 surrounding the emitter 102. The solar cells 104 absorb the radiation 106 emitted by the emitter 102 and transform the light energy into electricity.
However, in the conventional thermophotovoltaic device 100, many solar cells are needed and disposed surrounding the emitter 102 to collect the radiation 106 emitted by the emitter 102 in the periphery of the emitter 102. Therefore, when the thermophotovoltaic device 100 is prepared, a lot of materials of the solar cells 104 are needed, so that the fabrication cost is very high, thereby being unfavorable to mass production.